Caught in the Middle
by Dreamfantasy13
Summary: After the death of her parents, Carina Star's life suddenly becomes complicated... and questions without answers appear. Who is the mysterious Arianna Astra? And when it is time to choose sides, which side will Carina choose? A Draco Love Story.
1. Carina Star

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, or the characters—they are the creation of the all mighty J.K. Rowling bows down. The only characters that are mine are the one's you don't recognize…;-)**

**Author's Note: Okay, everyone. I've never done an HP fanfic before, so bare with me. A note to all of you, this story is the same story as demonstrated at Quizilla by WhenIRememberToForget (which is my penname there). I thought I might as well publish it here, as well. So…. Read and Review! Tell me what you think!**

The house was finally empty. It had taken days, but all the furniture had been put into storage. The only thing occupying the house right now was the millions of memories that floated around the air, catching and ensnaring her, as she fought to remain control.

She fiddled with the handle of her duffle bag. This was all that remained in the house. Her body, her bag, and her memories. She shook her head.

At the moment, fifteen-year-old Carina Star wanted none of it. She didn't want, or need, her possessions, she could do without her body, her life. And most of all, she really couldn't deal with the memories. They were happy memories, from a time when her life had been complete.

A time when she had been carefree and happy, not sad, quiet, and troubled. A time when her parents had been alive.

The memories rushed back, overwhelming.

_"Miss Star, Miss Star, will you listen please?" The man had been kind, but his patience had been worn thin. His was a difficult job._

_Carina stopped squirming and looked curiously at the man in front of her. Just moments ago, the phone had begun ringing, incessant and demanding. The man had picked up, his face becoming graver and graver with each passing second._

_She had been sitting in this cramped office for a little over an hour. Her parents worked for the government, and were often out on important missions. And besides their normal jobs, they both worked for a secret society, The Order of the Phoenix. Whatever that was. She knew it was an anti-Voldemort group, but that was pretty much it. She actually wasn't very sure what they did, for the government, or for the Order. They couldn't tell her—it was top secret._

_They were two days late from their latest mission. Carina had finally decided she should phone the government, to see if they were detained on work. They weren't._

_The office had insisted, however, that she report to them immediately, so that they could begin investigations._

_"Miss Star, I'm afraid I have bad news," the man said, dragging her back to the present._

_"Yes?" Carina inquired._

_The man drew in a deep breath. "I'm afraid that your parents have been killed in a car accident." Carina stopped moving and sat still. _

_"I beg your pardon?" She asked, in a voice that betrayed her vulnerability._

_The man sighed. "Your parents are dead. There was a car accident, and they were caught in the middle. It's quite tragic; they were so young, and so promising. I assure you that we will do our best to make sure you are cared for."_

_Carina nodded dumbly. The world faded out. She was vaguely aware of the man continuing to talk._

_"Tragic… so young…car accident… so sorry…"_

_"What will I do?" She asked, a lot calmer than she felt._

_"Your parent's died without any apparent will, so you'll be living with your closest relatives." He looked at a sheet of paper in front of him. "Your Aunt Gertrude and Uncle Boris. Do those names sound familiar?"_

_Carina nodded again. Yes, all too familiar. She'd met her aunt and uncle only once before, but even at eight years old, she had disliked them intensely._

_Aunt Gertrude had once been a great beauty, with big blue eyes, blonde hair, and a large chest. Her looks had faded with age, and no amount of procedures, medical or magical, could return her looks to their former glory. Because of this, she was often quite bitter, and enjoyed using violence against those prettier or younger than her. Unfortunately, Carina seemed to fit into both of these categories. _

_Uncle Boris, if anything, was worse. He was the kind of oily, slick, charming man who would plant a knife in your back as soon as look at you. Distrusting, suspicious, and overly skeptical, Uncle Boris made enemies easily. Enemies that happened to disappear with a surprising regularity. _

_ The man was still talking, Carina realized. "Naturally, you will no longer attend your old school—France is much too far for you to go for school. You will transfer to Hogwarts."_

_Carina stared at him. Her parents—dead. Living—with her horrid aunt and uncle. And Moving—to an entirely new school. What could be worse than that combination?_

_Silent tears coursed down Carina's cheeks, but the man didn't notice. "Now, the funeral arrangements…"_

"Carina? Carina!" The voice was her aunt's. "Are you almost ready? We're going to be late!"

"Yes, Aunt," Carina called with a silent sigh. She glanced around her old bedroom for perhaps the last time.

Her eye caught on her reflection in the crystal window.

She had once liked to see herself, liked to laugh at the warped image in the fine glass. She didn't laugh much anymore.

Carina Star had been born with naturally pale skin and brilliant silvery-blonde hair that shimmered when the sun hit it. She was curvy in all the right places, with a mouth made for smiling. But what she had loved about her appearance most of all was that her eyes were not just one color. Carina Star had one blue eye and one green eye. Most people viewed this as a disfigurement, Carina's mother had been fond of saying, "It makes you beautiful. With plain blue eyes, sure you'd be pretty, but this brings out your human nature, and makes you truly beautiful." She'd never be a conventional beauty, but that was fine with her.

"Carina!" Her aunt called again. "We're going to be late for the meeting. We still need to drop your stuff by the house."

Aunt Gertrude ushered Carina out of the house and into a cab. Carina watched the house disappear from the window. She was glad Aunt Gertrude had opted to Apparate instead. Now she had some alone time.

But it seemed like no time at all before they rolled up in front of a distinctly dark looking house. The knocker was shaped like a skull, and grime coated the windows. Carina couldn't imagine fussy Aunt Gertrude living in a house like this.

She paused before stepping inside. She had the distinct feeling, as she stepped into the house and the musky odor of decay overwhelmed her senses that she was leaving her old life behind as she did so.

**Author's Note: Well, that's the first bit. It'll get better later on, I promise. But I hope you liked it… so review and tell me what you think! Thanks :-)**


	2. Meetings of the First Kind

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Carina... everything else belongs ot J.K. Rowling... long may she reign!

Carina paused outside of the large building. Just inside, the "Junior Death Eaters" were waiting. Carina took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Technically speaking, the building didn't have a scent, but to Carina's nose, it smelled rank and bitter—of evil.

Summoning her courage, Carina walked through the door, expecting to see hooded figures performing evil deeds, torturing people maybe. Instead, she saw a group of very normal looking teenagers, lounging around.

A large blackboard in prominent view caught Carina's eye. "Free time—unless otherwise assigned". Carina took this to mean that she was to do as she wished, and looked around for a place to sit down.

A nearby corner caught her eye. Skirting a couple that were making out on the sofa, Carina walked to the corner and sat down.

A few small tears rolled down her cheeks. She had been a sheltered child, but not so sheltered that she didn't know who these people were and what they did. Not so sheltered that she didn't know that just sitting here went against everything her parents had stood for.

If Carina had been a braver person, she would have marched straight out of the building. She would have refused to go, refused to live with her aunt and uncle, and refused to move to a new school.

But Carina didn't see any courage when she looked into the mirror. Last week, that would have been a different story. But now, looking in the mirror, she saw a timid, frightened, worried girl, who didn't quite know what her place in the world was.

And what made Carina the angriest was that she was just sitting by, and watching, as she turned into the kind of person she hated. The kind of person who's backbone was nonexistent, who let themselves be pushed around. Everything was different now.

Carina wiped a few tears off the end of her nose. She wouldn't let anyone here see her cry. She had to think of something else to occupy her mind with.

Immediately, she began playing a game she used to play with her father while they waited for their food in muggle restraints. Her father had had the theory that one could tell a person's character based on their looks and how they carried themselves.

A handsome African-American boy lounging against the sofa caught Carina's eye. Dark skinned, with easy dark eyes and a brilliant smile, the boy appeared to be around her age. He was relaxed and confident. From the way he smiled, Carina could tell that it was something he did often. Carina immediately felt a great liking for him. He didn't have the aren't-I-hot look that was typical in teenage guys who were good looking. Hot and nice. It was a good combination. Except for the fact that he was at a Death Eater meeting…

Just a little ways away from the hottie was a short, heavy-set girl with a face that reminded Carina greatly of the ugliest dog in the neighborhood—a pug with a smashed face, due to the fact that he kept smashing into sliding glass doors. And that description fitted the girl like a glove. Ugly, with minimal intelligence, her gaze was fixed on yet another attractive boy, jealousy apparent on her doughy face.

Carina followed the girl's gaze. She was suspiciously watching a blonde boy as he snuggled closer to a pretty brunette. Carina smiled. Teenage jealousy.

_Wow._ Carina thought, immediately forgetting about the girl, and focusing all her attention to the boy. _Wowowowow._ Unlike the first boy, this boy had pale skin and hair. A strand of blonde hair fell casually across a face that was completely drool-worthy. He was positioned so Carina could perfectly see the outline of his muscles through his shirt. Ooh. Carina couldn't quite make out what color his eyes were, but she didn't need to see them to know that this boy rated a "10" on the hotness meter.

The boy smirked at something the girl said and sauntered across the room to talk to another group of girls. Carina raised an eyebrow. Everything in the boy's gait said 'arrogant' and 'conceited'. He walked as if he knew that he owned the world.

Carina thought she could hear someone humming. She sighed. How she wanted to leave.

Suddenly, as if by some unofficial cue, all the teenagers began to gather their things, and began to jostle towards the door. With one thought on her mind—Freedom!— Carina jumped up and sprinted for the exit, pushing past people in her haste to get to the exit. The door was in sight—she was almost there… she could make it, just a few more—

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" It was the hot blonde boy, and he looked extremely pissed off about something. Belatedly, she realized that she had just run into him, which explained why she was now sitting on the floor, with an extremely sore backside.

Her apology caught in her throat at his tone of voice. An impossible anger arose inside Carina. Pushing it back, she looked away from him, turning to get to her feet.

"Leaving."

"What did you just say?"

Carina stopped moving and looked up into his face. His eyes, she could now see, were icy gray, and completely devoid of warmth.

"Leaving," Carina said, more forcefully this time.

He laughed nastily, and turned to the other teenagers, who were watching the scene unfold around them with excitement.

The boy smirked. "Did you hear that? The mud blood thinks she's leaving before the Slytherin Prince."

The entire group started laughing—a mean, mocking sound.

Filled with a rage that was completely foreign to her, Carina narrowed her eyes and stood up, slapping the boy across the face in one smooth motion. When she moved her hand, everyone could see the handprint across his face.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

"I'm a pureblood." Carina hissed. "Get your terms straight." And with that, she stormed out.

**Draco's POV**

He glared after the blonde girl as she sauntered from the room, anger still blazing in her eyes. He couldn't believe that she, a new girl, had had the audacity to slap him. Him, the Slytherin Prince! She was gunna pay for that one! Why he, he…Draco quit fuming and focused his attention on the girl again. She had a smoking figure…

"Damn." He whispered, before being called back to reality as his face gave a fresh throb. He forced himself to stop staring at the girl's retreating form. Hot or no, that girl was going to learn what it meant to cross the Slytherin Prince. But first he had to find out who she was, and how to get the best revenge.

His father would know. The Death Eater's meeting would get out in a few minutes anyway. He could wait till then.

He absent-mindedly watched the rest of the teens exit the room, whispering about the altercation among themselves. Pansy kept shooting him sympathetic looks.

He caught sight of his face in the mirror. A red handprint stood out on his pale face. But it wasn't just a bruise—he had known it couldn't have been just an ordinary slap. The skin of the handprint was burned, and already beginning to blister. He winced.

Draco knew his father would be able to provide him with the information he needed. All he had to do was sit and wait a few more minutes.

Ten minutes later, Lucius Malfoy emerged from another door and strode into the room. He stopped in mid-stride upon catching sight of his son's face. By now, the burn was quite apparent—bright red and blistering on the pale skin.

His father crossed the room in two quick strides, stopping just in front of Draco.

"Who did this to you?" He demanded, gesturing to the wound.

"A new girl," Draco spat.

His father seethed. "We'll set this right. I will personally ensure that the girl does nothing of the sort again." He let out a cruel laugh. "In fact, I'm sure once I'm done with her, she'll never look at you again." He turned to Draco. "Do you know her name?"

"No—today was her first day."

His father stopped short. A strange look passed over his face, a look Draco had never seen on his father's face. A look that seemed so out of place… it couldn't be... fear?

"We were only expecting one new girl today," his father said slowly.

Draco frowned slightly. So? Where was his father going with this?

"Her name is Carina Star," his father continued. "Did this girl have blonde hair?"

Draco nodded. "Sort of silvery."

"That's her." His father thought a moment. The look of… fear? had passed from his face, but he still didn't look quite normal. "I think we'd better hold off on Carina Star for a moment. She's new… her parents just died… well," his father trailed off.

Draco stared at his father in disbelief. They weren't going to do anything about the girl? So she was new. What did it matter?

"What aren't you telling me, father?" Draco asked.

"Nothing that is of your concern." Lucius Malfoy responded loftily. He was back to his old self. "But, if I were you, I wouldn't do anything to upset Carina Star. She's quite… delicate." He smiled, as if he were enjoying a private joke.

"Now, let's get you fixed up."

Draco nodded, but he was angrier than ever. He couldn't see why the identity of the girl had stilled his father's lust for revenge. And while retaliation might be a bad idea, the girl had to learn her place. She might be pure blood, but he was the Slytherin Prince. And she would learn her lesson.

Author's Note: Review please!!!! ;-)


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